Land o' Candy party idea...darling

I'm debating whether I'm ambitious enough this year to do this for Chayce's birthday, but I have to share because it's SO cute.  And not too hard, just a little time consuming.  It comes from Parents magazine (which if you don't subscribe to it and have kids, you SHOULD.  It's cheap and has lots of great ideas!)  May's issue had five different birthday ideas and this was one of them...

 This is what I love the most...the life-sized suckers! 

Here's their directions on how to make them...

1.  Apply two coats of white paint to empty wrapping paper rolls with craft sponge brush
2.  Blow up balloons, knot the end and to the bottom attach a lenth of ribbon that is about 6" longer than the tube.
3.  Tie the loose end of the ribbon to a paint or glue bottle and drop it into the tube (so it has weight and will drop down). 
4.  Cut the ribbon from the paint or glue bottle, pull it tight and tape to the inside of the tube (the top of the tube should cover the balloon knot).
5.  Cut a 3'x4' piece of cellophane, cinch around the balloon, and tie with ribbon. 
6.  Insert the loose paint or glue bottle in the bottom of the tube to help it stand up.  Secure in place on the floor with strips of tape if necessary.

The cake is darling too...here's the instructions:

1.  For the proper height, you will need two 9" cakes and two 7" cakes stacked on top of each other.  You just need two cakes mixes, just splitting the batter between the two pans each time.  Cut the tops of each cake so they are flat, stack with a light coat of frosting between each and frost the whole cake. 
2.  To make the path, unwrap 3 or 4 fruit chews (Starbursts) and microwave them for 5 seconds to soften.  On a clean surface, roll each one flat with a rolling pin.  Cut them into 1"squares.  Press squares into the side of the cake to make a path that starts at the base and curls up to the top.  Use Pull'n'Peel licorice to outline the path.  Coil a strand into a bullseye and place at the end of the path.
3.  Decorate with candy and gingerbread men cookies as seen.
4.  For the cones, crumble a few cookies into each ice-cream cone to fill the base.  Spoon a dollop of frosting on top to look like ice cream.  Use food coloring for the strawberry color and cocoa for the chocolate color.  Place in cake and scatter sprinkles over the top.

Additional ideas include creating a Candy Land board around the house with construction paper and pulling out the game cards for a life-sized game.  Above the cake is a picture of cute party favors where you let the kids create their own candy rainbow with jellybeans (or M&M's). 

We'll see if this happens this weekend...if not it will someday for sure!